A busy week
We have really enjoyed reading our story this week. When we read it we noticed that the rhythm sounds like a train moving down the tracks. We used our props to re tell the story, listening to the rhythm and rhyme.
We made a map too.
In the paint we looked at the tracks on the wheels of our toy cars. Some of them had very different patterns on them some stripey, some zig zagged. We used them to create printings. This helped to develop our arm strength for writing.
We also did some investigation into force. We made our own ramp from wooden planks to send our trucks down. We found out that the higher the planks went the faster the truck moved.
Thank you to all of the parents from Red, Blue and Yellow Group who attended the New Parents meeting on Wednesday. If you didn’t manage to attend, don’t worry, please collect your information pack from the office as it contains your child’s start date and transition into school.
We will be starting our transition soon as the Reception teachers will be visiting Nursery to share a story and then we will visit the classrooms. Exciting times ahead.
We hope that you all have a happy and healthy weekend.
The Night Pirates
Our book this week is The Night Pirates by Peter Harris. We have been reading the story and talking about the different vocabulary. Next we will draw a story map and use it to retell the story.
Here is some of the pirate provision that has enhanced our learning this week.
For our writing challenge we wrote about what we’d done in the half term. Here are some examples;
This week, we introduced the children to Rekenreks. We continued to develop our subitising skills by using our “fast eyes” to quickly identify the number of beads shown. Rekenreks help children explore the structure of small numbers and build confidence in recognising quantities without counting.
We learnt that all of the beads should start on the right-hand side. This is known as the ‘ready position’. The children practised using the ‘pause (think), place (one finger), push (the beads)’ method. We always make sure we’re only using one finger when carefully pushing the beads.
Getting ready for Year One
We are now in Summer 2 and starting to think about transition into Year One. To help prepare children, we’d like parents/carers to encourage children to come into school independently and wave bye to them at the waving window.
We know there are a few children already doing this, which is great for developing independence.
Having said this, please know that our door will continue to be open to you for chats and if your child wants to show you their learning.
Thank you for your support.
The Train Ride
We finished last term with a very exciting week focused on learning how to stay safe. The children took responsibility for keeping our outdoor area safe by carrying out their own daily safety checks and placing cones around any areas they identified as unsafe. They practised crossing the road safely using our very own zebra crossing and discussed how to stay safe near water during visits to the park. To round off the week, we were delighted to welcome a fire engine and its crew for a special visit. What a fantastic week of learning and fun!
This term promises to be just as exciting as we approach the end of our Nursery year. We will begin our learning with a book about a train ride, which will inspire lots of discussion.
Book of the Fortnight
The Train Ride by June Crebbin
Through this story, we will be thinking about journeys we have been on and sharing our own experiences. In the construction area, the children will have opportunities to design and build their own vehicles. We will also be investigating forces by creating tracks and ramps, exploring how objects move and finding out what makes them go faster or slower.
Phonics
Over the next few weeks, the Red, Blue and Yellow groups will be focusing on oral segmenting and blending skills during group time. This is when we break words down into individual sounds and learn how to blend them together.
Oral segmenting and blending is an important skill for children to acquire before they begin the more formal teaching of phonics in Reception. We practise segmenting and blending the sounds we can hear in words; we do not expect children to recognise, read or write letters in Nursery.
This skill can be quite challenging and may take some time for children to master. It will continue to be taught throughout the Foundation Stage.
For example, to segment the word bus, we would say:
b – u – s
We always use pure sounds and try to avoid putting an “uh” sound on the end of a letter sound. For example, we say “ssss” rather than “suh”.
If you would like any support with helping your child practise these skills at home, please speak to a member of the Nursery team.
Nursery Rhyme of the Week
In Maths, we are learning about day and night and discussing the differences between them. The children will be exploring what happens at different times of the day and thinking about the activities they do in the morning, afternoon and evening.
Next week, we will move on to ordering key events in our daily routines, helping children to develop their understanding of time and sequence.
Help at Home
Talk to your child about day and night. What activities do people do during the day and at night? Can they talk about what they do in the morning, afternoon and evening? Looking at family routines together and discussing the order of daily events is a great way to reinforce this learning.
Reminders
As the weather becomes warmer, please refer to our guidance regarding sun cream. Please ensure that your child comes to Nursery each day with a named sunhat and water bottle so that they can stay safe, hydrated and comfortable while enjoying outdoor learning.
Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions about your child’s learning, please speak to a member of the Nursery team.
Year 1 Maths
Year 1 have been busy this week, measuring things in and around the classroom.
We began our learning with measuring using non-standard units such as cubes.
‘Length is how long something is, from start to finish.’
‘Height is how tall something is, from the bottom to the top.’
We also used centimetres to measure small objects in our classrooms.
After this, we used rulers to measure objects accurately.
We need to line the object up with the end of the ruler, keep it straight and measure to the closest centimetre.
Help at home by making good estimations about how many centimetres long or tall, household objects are.
What we will be learning – Safety Week
This week, we will be joining in with school’s safety themed week. We’ll be learning all about staying safe in lots of different situations.
The children will be helping us to carry out our daily risk assessments both inside and outside Nursery. We will be asking questions like Is the gate closed? Are the steps to the slide slippery? Are any of the toys broken?
Talking about sun safety.
Role playing crossing the road safely on our bike track.
Spotting dangers in the home.
Finding out about our emergency services.
Look out for some photos later this week.
Reminders
Nursery will close on Thursday 21 May for the half term holiday.
We will return for our final term on Monday 01 June.
Wriggly worms
We’ve been listening to the story ” Superworm ” in Nursery this week and learning through some ” worm” themed activities.
We strengthened our fingers this week by using tweezers to collect some worms in the sensory area and rolling worms in the dough. We made long and short worms.
We did try to find some minibeasts outside this week but they were keeping themselves well hidden as it was quite cold. We will keep looking next week.
Our caterpillars have been busy building their chrysalides. We’ve put them into the butterfly garden. Will we get to see them hatch? Watch this space!
We’ve been busy talking about all of the shapes around us this week. As we’ve printed with the shapes we’ve talked about their sides and corners. Did you find any shapes with flat sides at home this week?
Outside we’ve been balancing, jumping, climbing and swinging. The children loved developing their physical skills on our obstacle course.
Reminders
Nursery closes at 3pm. Please make sure you pick your child up at the end of each session on time. This is to support your child’s wellbeing, as well as support staffing arrangements.
Living and Learning: reflecting and connecting
Pupils in 5/6 have been reflecting and connecting. Before the Easter break, we took some time to connect with our surroundings. Following the Easter break, one child was awestruck by the vibrant colour in this blossom tree on our playground. Another child asked if we could take a picture and share just how beautiful it was with everyone. The pink blossom framed against the dark green and grey is truly worth spending a few minutes just to stop and stare.
Perhaps, like Wordsworth you might take a moment to reflect:
Growing and changing
Children enjoyed learning about how they’ve grown and changed from being a baby this week. We looked at our baby and toddler photos in group time; thanks for emailing them to us. We talked about some of the things that the children can do now , that they couldn’t do when they were a baby such as talking, riding a bike and eating food.
To continue our learning about ‘growing up’, we helped to take care of the babies in the water tray, carefully giving them a bath and washing their hair.
As we drank our milk at snack time, we continued to talk about how to keep our bodies healthy and how to look after our teeth. We used toothbrushes in the sensory area to clean the dirty teeth and we listened to some songs all about how to brush our teeth. We talked about how important it is to brush them twice a day.
This song helps us to remember how to brush our teeth.
In our group times this week, we learnt about the number 5. We looked at 5 candles on a cake and put 5 objects into a 5 frame. We could see that there were no spaces left now.
Help at home: As you play with your child have a go at including some of these things into your play and conversation.
- Can you count 5 objects? Remember to line them up and touch/point to each one carefully as you say one number for each item.
- Can you count to 5 and show 5 on your fingers?
- Can you spot the number five on house doors or car number plates?
- Count 5 objects from a pile and remember to STOP when you get to 5.
Next week’s learning
Next week, we’ll learn all about celebrating Easter.
Nursery Rhyme of the week
Can you join in with the rhyme at home
Sound of the week– Ll
Reminders
Green group’s parent teachers consultations are on Wednesday 01 April via zoom. You will receive an invite for your ten minute appointment via the school office.
If you have not yet booked an appointment please speak to a member of the Nursery Team.
Nursery closes for the Easter break on Thursday 02 April returning on Monday 20 April.
Reading
We’ve been reading Jabberwocky this week in reading. This is a poem written by Lewis Carroll, who also wrote Alice in Wonderland. This is a nonsense poem about the main character killing a creature called ‘the Jabberwock’. The children had to read the poem and make sense of all the nonsense vocabulary. They managed to pick out and retrieve some description of the Jabberwock. The drew their representations of what they thought it would look like. There were some interesting ideas!
